Brian & Nancy's ParkLiner

[Brian M. in NY]

Finally pulled the batteries from the trailer yesterday afternoon and cleared space for them and the battery maintainers, Amazon.com: Schumacher SEM-1562A 1.5 Amp Speed Charge Maintainer: Automotive on my basement work bench. The chargers illustrated in the link are the same model as the ones pictured which I purchased in the spring. The LEDs are located a little differently and they now cost $2.00 less each than what I paid. Of course, if I waited until I needed them, the price would have gone up or they would have been out of stock! Sheeesh!

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The batteries were nominally at full charge when I brought them in as the ParkLiner has been connected to shore power and I've been letting the PD-4045 controller keep them up. Before I pulled them, my kitchen cabinet mounted voltage meter was showing a voltage of 13.15 with the load of the LP gas detector connected. Once the batteries were pulled, each showed a no-load voltage of ~14.1 VDC.

Initially, I hooked them up to the maintainers using the spring clamps as the holes in the ring connectors for the alternate connection were too small for the battery studs. The maintainers amber lights went on indicating both maintainers in charge mode. I checked with my volt meter and got the following readings.


I checked the batteries about 3 hours later and found the amber lights had gone out and green lights were on indicating maintenance mode. Voltage on each was right around 13.25 VDC.

This morning I drilled out the ring connectors to fit the battery studs and removed the spring clamps. Both units immediately went back into charge mode at about 14.8 VDC, but within an hour were back on maintenance.



I'm not sure how smart a charger has to be, but these, at a total cost of less than $40 for both seem to be doing the job. They aren't designed to charge anything bigger than a lawn mower or small motorcycle battery but will maintain a much larger battery as long as it starts out with a full charge.

[frank_a]

I think what you're using is very similar to the maintainer I got at NAPA yesterday, based on the sage advice of the NAPA battery dude. I have not had a chance to open it yet, but will soon, and post pics under our ParkLiner thread.

Frank

[Tim Wood]

Brian, The trailer with your mods looks great, and I'm glad at least some things are working out for you with the company.

[Brian M. in NY]

Thanks Tim,
Sounds like ParkLiner in taking a new approach to customer service and a lot of people are pleased. Spring can't get here fast enough!

[Brian M. in NY]

I was dumb enough to do it after all. After the last squall came through I went out on the deck, and well....



Must have taken me 20 minutes to stand back up again! It's only November 8. Good Grief!!!

[Brian M. in NY]

I finally got around to doing a job that I have been dreading for the past few weeks as today looked like one of the last relatively dry, almost 50 degree days we're going to have for a while. Getting Eggbert up on blocks for the winter. It was not a pretty sight - and that was just the part about me trying to get back up off the ground.




It actually wasn't horrible, with a bucket loader on the tractor to gather and move supplies and provide a portable workbench and handhold to get up and down, start to finish, the job took about an hour and a half. It's tough to see in the photos, but both tires are about 3/4" off the ground, all the stress is relieved from the torsion axle and I shouldn't have any flat spots on the tires come spring. The hardest part was figuring out where to put the blocking and avoiding pinching the brake wires. I finally settled on placing my jack just forward of the axle, jacking up the side and placing the blocking just to the rear of the axle. Then repeated on the opposite side. The parking pad is a well compacted mixture of crusher run and stone dust about 6" thick laid on top of the subsoil after scraping all the topsoil away, so settling should not be a problem.

[frank_a]

Originally Posted by Brian M. in NY

I finally got around to doing a job that I have been dreading for the past few weeks as today looked like one of the last relatively dry, almost 50 degree days we're going to have for a while. Getting Eggbert up on blocks for the winter. It was not a pretty sight - and that was just the part about me trying to get back up off the ground.

It actually wasn't horrible, with a bucket loader on the tractor to gather and move supplies and provide a portable workbench and handhold to get up and down, start to finish, the job took about an hour and a half. It's tough to see in the photos, but both tires are about 3/4" off the ground, all the stress is relieved from the torsion axle and I shouldn't have any flat spots on the tires come spring. The hardest part was figuring out where to put the blocking and avoiding pinching the brake wires. I finally settled on placing my jack just forward of the axle, jacking up the side and placing the blocking just to the rear of the axle. Then repeated on the opposite side. The parking pad is a well compacted mixture of crusher run and stone dust about 6" thick laid on top of the subsoil after scraping all the topsoil away, so settling should not be a problem.

Looks good Brian. I'll have to give a similar plan some thought. Hmm.

Frank

[elli]

Brian any chance you could - or perhaps you already have posted a get-er on the road again honey do about purging the antifreeze and getting her up and running. Your details on the Parkliner winterization are great!
Any info to point us new owners in the right direction would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Elli

[mary and bob]

After looking at Brian's pictures, I'd like to point out that it is generally considered unsafe to support a vehicle with cement blocks. In this case it isn't much of an issue because the tires are barely off the ground and no one is working under the trailer. Brian is correct in that he has the blocks laid with the holes up, and wood the full length of the block which distributes the load and minimizes the potential of the block crumbling. I admit I have used cement blocks to support things, but never will work under a vehicle that is on cement blocks. Be safe, always!!

[Brian M. in NY]

Originally Posted by mary and bob

After looking at Brian's pictures, I'd like to point out that it is generally considered unsafe to support a vehicle with cement blocks. In this case it isn't much of an issue because the tires are barely off the ground and no one is working under the trailer. Brian is correct in that he has the blocks laid with the holes up, and wood the full length of the block which distributes the load and minimizes the potential of the block crumbling. I admit I have used cement blocks to support things, but never will work under a vehicle that is on cement blocks. Be safe, always!!

Next year I'm going to set up 6 x 6 and 4 x 4 cribbing to do the job, but this year I was fighting the weather and had to go with I had before a storm rolled in. And at no time did I crawl under the trailer to accomplish the job. My head would probably make an effective wheel chock but I have no intention of putting it to the test! Hope you and Mary are snug and warm in the South. It is currently -8 F here now and expect around -15 by morning. Also there is about 16 inches of snow on the roof of the Parkliner. Fortunately light and fluffy so I don't have to drag the ladder out in these wind chills.

Originally Posted by elli

Brian any chance you could - or perhaps you already have posted a get-er on the road again honey do about purging the antifreeze and getting her up and running. Your details on the Parkliner winterization are great!
Any info to point us new owners in the right direction would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Elli

Ellie - thanks for the high praise. When spring rolls around I'll write up and post my reverse procedure. I'm sure there are other step by step instructions posted here on this forum but I haven't had a chance to track them down yet.

[mary and bob]

Brian; your use of the cement blocks looks OK. I just wanted to point out that they should not be used to support a vehicle that you are going to work under. Many years ago a local guy was killed when a car that was on cement blocks fell on him. I have a good collection of wood blocking I use, jack stands, and wood ramps cut from a solid piece of 6 X 12 beam that we used in one of the truck shops I was in.

[mary and bob]

. Fortunately light and fluffy so I don't have to drag the ladder out in these wind chills. (Brian's quote)


I figured out a couple years ago after I had bought a leaf blower that it works good for clearing that light snow off cars and even the sidewalk at my part time job. Better get it off before it warms up and freezes there.

[Brian M. in NY]

Originally Posted by mary and bob

.
I figured out a couple years ago after I had bought a leaf blower that it works good for clearing that light snow off cars and even the sidewalk at my part time job. Better get it off before it warms up and freezes there.

I tried my leaf blower a couple of weeks ago on our deck after a 6 inch snowfall. Light and fluffy that time as well. It was a day much like today with gusts to about 30mph. And shifting direction. I came in about 10 minutes later looking like the Pillsbury dough boy. I think it took about 3 days for my Carharts to dry hanging in the cellar. I'm sticking to a shovel or broom from here on. The only thing that is going to get me outside today is having to load the wood boiler. Brrrrrr!

[Wallo]

A question about raising trailers in the off season. I use my trailer about once or twice every couple months thru out the year. Should it be set up on blocks when not being used? Seems like a lot of work if you want to take off at the spur of a moment.

[mary and bob]

In your case Alice I would not bother blocking up the trailer. And in reality, how many campers out there have ever been stored in that manner. A very small percentage I would guess. I don't do it with any of mine, but I do put a wood board under the tires just to keep them from settling into the dirt.

[Wallo]

Thanks Bob. Mine is kept in the garage, snug as a bug in a rug. I can pack it to go in inclement weather easily, and drive off quickly. I do move it a few inches back and forth every few weeks and keep the tires inflated. The reason for raising the trailer us understandable, but very inconvenient if it is used, even once every two months.

[Brian M. in NY]

Originally Posted by Wallo

Thanks Bob. Mine is kept in the garage, snug as a bug in a rug.

If only! I hope to put up a carport in the coming year to reduce the weather exposure but unless I hit the lotto, snug as a bug is not in our ParkLiner's future. The secondary reason for raising the camper is for servicing the e-z lube Dexter axle. The wheel needs to be spun by hand while pumping grease into the fitting on the wheel hub.

[David B.]

Originally Posted by Wallo

A question about raising trailers in the off season. I use my trailer about once or twice every couple months thru out the year. Should it be set up on blocks when not being used? Seems like a lot of work if you want to take off at the spur of a moment.

I just use my electric drill to activate the car scissor jacks that I mounted on the frame just behind the wheels.

[Brian M. in NY]

Just returned from a week on the Sacandaga River in the southern Adirondacks of NY.


Just prior to our departure, I installed a Victron Energy BMV-700 battery monitor in the camper. What a revelation! We have been wasting gallons of gasoline running our generator for the maximum allowable generator hours of 9 - 11 AM and 4 -7 PM just to make sure our batteries were topped up, because we really had no idea what the state of our battery bank was.


With the battery monitor installed, we have a wealth of information available including battery bank voltage, amp hours used, real time current draw (or replacement) and real time power usage in watts. We found that we use so little power for lighting and pumping water that, running the generator for a maximum of half an hour a couple times a day to heat up meals in the microwave, was adequate to keep the battery bank full. I also installed a battery cut-off switch so I can completely isolate the batteries from the converter. This means no more constant draw from the LP gas leak detector when we have the camper parked and in storage mode.

We also got to give our pellet logs a workout. I bought a set of them early in the spring when they were first shown on this forum. Let's see, a 40 lb. bag of pellets at the Orange Big Box store goes for $4.89. A bag of firewood at the campground entrance (certified to be obtained within a 50 mile radius and thus ash borer free) is up to $9.00.


A single bag of pellets gave us five, almost smoke-free, campfires, each lasting about 1 hour. Using a propane torch to light them (yes, I really am that lazy) took about 10 seconds and didn't require a search for kindling. We had campfires every morning with our coffee and didn't have to put up with a smokey smudge for hours afterward and had evening campfires without having to stay up until midnight waiting for the last coals to die down. When done, we simply shook out the small amount of ash and nested the four logs back in the box for the next trip.

No more horsing the generator into the back of truck for 2 or 3 nights of dry camping. I love being lazy.

[frank_a]

Originally Posted by Brian M. in NY

Just returned from a week on the Sacandaga River in the southern Adirondacks of NY.

Brian, boondocking or at a campground?

I wish I knew more about all this electrical stuff. I wouldn't know an amp (or volt) if I ran into one!

What kind of generator do you have?

Frank